


accidentally in love

by twistedsky



Series: ramen24 [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3543083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedsky/pseuds/twistedsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sif and Jane accidentally get married.</p>
            </blockquote>





	accidentally in love

**Author's Note:**

> I just made stuff up in regards to the ceremony that Sif and Jane accidentally underwent. 
> 
> Written for Ramen24, a fic project I'm doing with a friend.
> 
> All mistakes are my own. I know it's kind of silly.

Thor loves a Midgardian woman, a poor choice by any standards.

The problem is not the woman herself—Jane Foster seems kind, and intelligent, and brave—but the complications that come with her love for Thor.

Alas, Thor loves Jane, and he’s been speaking of spending even more time with her, and Sif can feel him gravitating closer to something a bit more . . . permanent.

She promises herself then that she’ll make sure that this won’t end in fire and chaos, or heartbreak and suffering(she knows, truly, that she should step back, and let things be, but she worries for her friend, for her _home_ , and thus she has to at least _try_ ).

She goes to Odin, requesting that she be allowed to visit Midgard for less serious reasons than she has in the past.

She fully expects him to say no, and she has a speech prepared to fully explain the necessity of her travels, but then he nods, and smiles slightly, and sends her on her way.

She turns and walks away, with an odd sensation that something is _wrong_ , but she can’t quite put her finger on it. And so, instead, she shall focus on what she _does_ understand, and she has much to do.

~~

Sif hasn’t spent much time on Midgard, and the few times she’s visited, she’s generally been searching for some sort of dangerous person that the humans would likely not be able to stop on their own. Or, at least, that they shouldn’t have to.

Thor has been living with this team he’s found for himself, and when Sif tells Thor that she wishes to visit, he’s so excited, she almost feels guilty for intending to use her time to get to know Jane a bit better.

Sif barely knows Jane, but while she had endangered Sif’s people, Sif knows that she’s seemingly a good person.

Sif still worries, despite herself.

She meets Thor’s friends—these heroes he’s aligned himself with. His kindness blinds him to their faults, Sif thinks.

He is not a fool, but his heart is too big for his own good. This much, Sif has always known about him.

Thor’s friend Stark, who owns the Tower, and far more than that, it seems, declares that a trip to Las Vegas is in order.

And thus, Sif’s life changes forever.

~~

Jane’s not entirely sure she’s happy with this turn of events.

She’s always grateful to find a little more time to spend with Thor, but going to Las Vegas with all of his superhero friends? Well, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

Lady Sif’s presence has her a bit uneasy too, mostly because Jane’s always had this feeling that the other woman doesn’t much like her.

Sif seems to be trying though, using her earthly identification that Tony had forged so that she can gamble and drink, and she seems to have zero interest in doing either of those things.

Sif ambles over to her, which is strange in and of itself, because she doesn’t seem like much of an ambler, and sits down next to her.

Jane isn’t intimidated.

She’s a little nervous, but she’s also secure in herself, _and_ in her relationship.

Thor is doing shots back to back, and Jane’s sure that he’ll regret that in the morning.

“I assume imbibing alcohol is a social lubricant, as it is in Asgard?” Sif asks, but she sighs, like she already knows the answer.

“Yeah,” Jane says, reaching out for her glass and finishing it off.

“I suppose I will have to blend,” Sif says, and Jane lifts an eyebrow.

That may have been a joke, and Jane didn’t know that Sif could do that.

Jane catches the eye of the bartender and orders another round for herself and Sif.

Maybe a little girl on girl bonding will help things, Jane thinks.

~~

“Damn it,” Jane groans, wincing and pressing her fingers against her forehead as hard as she can, hoping to release at least a little bit of the pain in her head.

It doesn’t work, and now she feels a little nauseated too.

“We are never doing that again,” Jane says, but Thor doesn’t respond.

Jane opens her eyes and looks around.

“Shit. Shit, shit, _shit_.”

The Asgardian warrior lying in bed next to her is not her hunky blond boyfriend—it’s a grumpy brunette woman instead, and her head is lying on a marriage certificate.

“Oh my god.”

“Why are you being so dramatic so early in the morning?” Sif asks then, sleepily, turning over and crumpling their marriage certificate more than it already was.

“Why are you in my bed?” Jane asks, even though she already knows the answer.

Sif sits up sharply, looking around, and looking completely betrayed when she looks down to see that they’re in bed together.

They definitely haven’t slept together, Jane is thankful to note, since they’re both still mostly fully clothed.

They are, however, _married._

Jane can’t believe that not a single one of the Avengers didn’t think, ‘hey, maybe we should stop that from happening,’ and then the answer comes to her in a blinding instant: obviously, this is just a sick joke.

This is totally the kind of thing Tony Stark would do.

~~

It’s not a joke.

“You entered into a marriage ritual,” Thor says. “I can’t help but think that means something.”

“It means nothing,” Sif swears.

“What she said,” Jane agrees. “People get accidentally married in Vegas all the time, and then they get it annulled or they get divorced, and everyone moves on with their lives.”

“Oh,” Thor says. “That seems rather flippant."

“I’m not even a resident of this planet,” Sif reminds them all. “It could not possibly count.”

“It’s pretty legal,” Tony says, butting his head in where it doesn’t belong, which doesn’t surprise Jane at all. “I’m really good at forging identification,” he shrugs, and Jane glares at him.

“I’m not even sure how you’d actually go about annulling it then,” Bruce interjects, and Jane glares at him.

He lifts his hands and retreats.

“You cannot annul the marriage,” Thor says now, and Jane gives him a bewildered look.

“Why not?” Jane demands.

She looks to Sif, who simply stares back at her until Jane looks away.

“Asgardians pledge to stay together for at least one planetary cycle, and they make that bond in magic,” Thor explains. "This particular ritual is less common these days, so it's surprising that you've somehow stumbled into it," he says with a frown.

"I'm so sorry," Sif says softly, her face full of pain and regret. "I don't even remember it."

Thor takes her hand, and rubs his thumb over the small mark that represents Jane and Sif's marriage. "I know."

“I don’t remember taking part in some magic ritual,” Jane says, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Thor releases Sif's hand and gravitates toward Jane.

Thor closes the distance between himself and Jane, and takes her left hand in his own.

He holds it gently, looking up into her eyes with great sadness.

He strokes her palm, and then points to it, directing her gaze to a small spiral.

“Oh,” Jane says. “Well, we’ll just wait a year, then undo it, right? We’ll just carry on with our lives, and then—“

“There’s a proximity clause,” Thor tells her, and Jane deflates.

Jane then starts to consider the logistics of all of this, and she begins to perk up.

Magic is just science she hasn’t figured out yet, after all. “I’ll figure a way out of this.”

“Good,” Sif says curtly, and Jane glares at her, almost challenging her.  Sif doesn’t even look like she believes that Jane can figure it out, which only serves to frustrate Jane _more_.

This woman is frustrating beyond words.

~~

This woman is her wedded wife, and thus she must stay.

As a warrior, she has little place on this planet, because there is little opportunity for her to do much of anything. She doesn't hope for an invasion, but at least it would be a _challenge._

Thor looks at her with sadness now, with such betrayal it breaks her heart.

She has done this, somehow.

She has made a fool of herself over this mortal woman, and regret is so heavy in her heart, she doesn’t know what to do.

“I’m so sorry,” Sif says, her chest clenching with pain.”This will be over soon, and I will leave, and you and your Dr. Foster will be perfectly happy together.”

“Why did you come, Sif?” Thor asks, not as unkindly as he could.

He sits down next to  her now, taking her hands and looking into her eyes.

Sif could lie, but what purpose would that serve. “To make sure that you wouldn’t do anything foolish.”

Thor smiles now, almost painfully, and Sif feels only more guilt.

“It seems you’ve been foolish enough for the both of us,” Thor says. “I forgive you.”

Sif’s eyes flutter closed, and she feels a surge of relief. “I do not know that I deserve it.”

Sif doesn’t know how this happened, how foolish Midgardian drinks could have created this mess, could have swayed her to _marry_ the same woman loved by her friend.

“This will end,” Thor promises. “A year on Midgard isn’t much at all. It’s a fascinating world.”

“Some of us do not share your . . . fascination with these mortals.” This is true, but she is not one of them. Her visits to earth have been enjoyable in the past, it's simply the circumstances of this one that are complicating things.

The truth is that these people are the same as any other people she’s met—some are cruel, some kind, some both in turn, depending on the situation.

She will find ways, she decides, to keep busy.

~~

Thor is called back to Asgard, and Sif is left behind.

“If something should happen while I am gone,” Thor says, “Please watch over her.”

“I shall,” Sif promises, not believing there would possibly be a reason for her to have to keep this promise.

Jane is a scientist, and beyond accidentally wandering through a portal and being infected with such power that it had almost destroyed her, she’s not any more likely than anyone else on this planet to end up in trouble. And thus, she can likely take care of herself.

This is not what happens.

Sif receives a message from Thor that Odin is Loki in disguise, and at first it simply sounds like a sick joke, but then warriors come to attack her, and she realizes that something is _happening_.

Jane is off doing some sort of research in the city, and thus Sif rushes out to find her.

Sif nearly breaks down the door of Jane’s temporary research lab, and Jane just looks at her in confusion. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jane demands.

Jane’s assistant Darcy wanders over to her, frowning slightly. She looks at the door, then at Sif. “Damn girl, you’re intense.”

Sif ignores her, even when she whispers under her breath, “ _And hot_ ,” and instead focuses on Jane.

“We must leave,” Sif tells her. “Now.”

“I don’t think so,” Jane says, shaking her head. “I have too much to do, and there’s no reason I’m going to abandon my research just because you came and told me—“ Warriors come crashing through the door frame and wall, and Jane’s eyes widen. “Um, hello, I think you have the wrong—“ and she ducks to avoid a swinging sword.

Sif moves herself in front of Jane. “We must leave this place,” she says, and she attacks Jane’s assailants.

Jane grabs her laptop, and some paperwork, and shoves it into a bag. “Darcy, we’ve got to go.”

“Hurry,” Sif says after she’s taken out the warriors. She sheathes her weapon and turns to Jane. “We must go somewhere safe.”

“I know just the place,” Darcy says.

~~

Darcy’s great uncle’s cabin is small, but comfortable.

Jane almost likes the rustic vibe, but there’s no wi-fi, which means she’s completely cut off from the rest of the world.

Jane plops down on the bed in one of the two rooms and sighs.

She leans back, and closes her eyes.

She hasn’t slept in three days.

She’s tried to, of course, but it’s hard to sleep when you’re worried about your life.

Loki is an asshole, Jane thinks for the millionth time.

Darcy’s in the next room getting settled, and Sif circling around the perimeter of the cabin to make sure that they’re safe, and Jane—well, Jane is _tired_.

Her wife—and yes, that’s still funny, still ridiculous, still frustrating as hell—wanders in at that moment, with that serious, brooding look on her face.

“Do you ever smile?” Jane asks.

“I have had little occasion to do so recently,” Sif says, sitting down in the chair near Jane’s bedroom door.

She’s already claimed it as her bed, it seems, and from the past few days of Sif standing guard, Jane’s not surprised.

If she were closer to the Lady Sif, maybe it would actually bring her some comfort. It isn’t that Sif is not a great warrior, because she definitely is, but—well, Jane feels a bit unsettled when she's around.

“You don’t really like me all that much,” Jane says now, because she’s blunt, and she’s not very good at avoiding problems like this.

“I do not know you,” Sif evades, which Jane thinks answers things pretty nicely.

“You think you know enough,” Jane says flatly. “You’re very obvious about it.”

“You are safe, Jane Foster,” Sif says. “That is all that matters.”

“Because Thor asked you to protect me,” Jane says. “That’s why you’re here. That’s all you care about.”

“That is all that matters at the moment,” Sif says, and Jane shakes her head.

“We could be friends, you know,” Jane tells her. “If you could stop trying so hard to hate me for like five minutes.”

“I don’t hate you,” Sif says stiffly, almost angrily, and Jane smiles, because she’s getting to her.

Jane is quiet then. She breathes in deeply, trying to adjust to her new setting, and trying to relax.

“I think this is the first time we’ve been alone in the same room since we got hitched in Vegas,” Jane muses aloud.

Sif winces then, and Jane hides a smile.

Jane tries not to think about it too much, because it’s weird.

She’s married, but not to the guy she loves—instead, it’s to his friend, who may be in love with him, it’s hard to tell sometimes.

It’s complicated.

“I suppose you’re right,” Sif says finally, but she doesn’t relax at all.

Jane wonders what it must be like to _be_ her, to be a warrior all of the time, to never let your guard down.

“It’s really weird,” Jane says softly. “I don’t even know you, but I have to be married to you for the next ten months, and I’ve barely spoken to you in the last two—and that’s just not how I thought all of this would turn out.”

“It’s temporary,” Sif reminds her. “It will be over, and we will move on, like nothing happened at all.”

“Is that what’ll happen with Loki’s most recent reign of terror?” Jane asks then.

“I do not believe that Loki is the one sending these warriors after us,” Sif divulges then, and Jane looks at her in surprise.

“I thought it seemed strange,” Jane says, almost to herself.

Sif sighs then, and looks down at her hands in her lap. “I must check the perimeter again,” she says, and Jane nods.

Sif stands, and moves to leave, but then she whirls back around, and hesitates.

Jane tries to keep her face passive and calm, so that she’ll say whatever is going on in her head. Sif is difficult to understand, because she keeps her emotions buried way deep below the surface.

Sif doesn’t open up though, she just gives Jane a careful look. “I promise you that you are safe with me. I will not allow any harm to come to you—and I—I do not hate you,” her voice wobbles slightly on those last words, but it doesn’t sound like she doesn’t believe them so much as it sounds like she’s just not very good at offering comfort, or opening up, even in slight ways.

Jane is oddly comforted by Sif’s words, and the other woman wanders off. Struck by the power and grace the other woman has, Jane wonders what her life would be like if she were a warrior.

Jane is strong, and she knows this, but she’s strong and forceful in personality, in smarts, in dedication.

Sif does not accomplish through force of personality, she does so through force of will, and Jane is struck by the thought that she’s not entirely sure who would win in a battle of wills if they went head to head.

Jane lies down on the bed, and sighs.

Hopefully, this will all be over soon.

~~

Two months later, they’re in Chicago, and Darcy’s at home, because she’s safer there, since these minions have no interest in her.

The Avengers are busy with all sorts of world-ending chaos, or else Jane could likely go to them. But the world is falling apart again, and they all have their paths to follow.

Their lives are different now—Jane spends almost every waking moment with Sif, who trains her, and forces her outside of her comfort zone. The physicality of it is draining sometimes, but often exhilarating too.

“How do you think they keep finding us?” Jane asks.

“We cannot evade them completely,” Sif tells her. “We must keep going, keep moving until this is over.” That doesn't answer Jane's question, but Jane's pretty sure the answer is that Sif doesn't know.

Jane sighs, and goes back to studying her most recent notes—just because she’s on the run doesn’t mean she can’t still get work done.

Sif sits on the second bed in their hotel room, and Jane thinks this is as good of a time as any to play her favorite game—figure out things about Sif.

“It’s question and answer time,” Jane says, and she can practically feel Sif roll her eyes in annoyance, but Jane knows she’ll still play.

This is a recent game they’ve been playing—three questions a day, and though they’re supposed to each ask questions, Sif rarely does.

“Why did you become a warrior?” Jane asks, leaning back against her pile of pillows.

“Why did you become a scientist?”  Sif bites back, and Jane sighs. At least Sif is participating.

“It felt like my destiny,” Jane explains, and Sif nods her head.

“It was the same for me,” Sif tells her. “I fought long and hard for my place among the very best, but I knew I was good at it, and I knew it was for me.”

That’s familiar to Jane, and she’s struck by the realization that she and Sif have far more in common than someone might think.

~~

The warriors come and come, like they're an inexhaustible resource.

Sif is nearly sliced open with a sword one time, and Jane glares down at her while she tends to her wounds.

Sif tries to ignore the pain, as she always does.

She cannot change the wounds that she has received, she can only focus on learning from her mistakes.

Jane is her mission, and she cannot allow the other woman to perish.

Sif has almost grown attached to her ramblings and almost nonsensical explanations of her work. Sif understands the basic concepts of technology, but it has never been her passion. Jane’s eyes seem to brighten with such passion when she speaks of them, and it almost makes Sif wish she'd paid more attention to such things so that she could answer Jane's questions.

Jane’s eyes are dark now as she tends to Sif’s wounds.

Sif will heal relatively quickly, because it’s a shallow wound.

“You know, I could probably take care of myself,” Jane points out. Temporarily, Sif believes she could, but when there are so many warriors coming at her? Sif errs on the side of caution.

Sif’s training sessions are not as regular or as intense as she’d like them to be, but it is often hard to find a good place to train when you’re constantly on the run. There's still broken furniture back at Darcy's uncle's cabin, and half a dozen hotel rooms have been destroyed since.

Sif is struck by a swimming feeling in her belly while Jane tends to the slash along her stomach.

It must be from the wound, Sif thinks, though there’s a fluttery sort of softness about it.

She rejects the word that comes to mind before it even lands— _attraction._

Sif grabs onto the thought and suppresses it violently. It’s silly, and a simple product of circumstances.

~~

“Are you in love with Thor?” Jane asks one day.

She doesn’t playfully declare that it’s story time, or start the conversation off with something simpler, she just gets to the point.

Sif does the same. “Once, I was. No longer.”

Jane wonders if that’s enough, wonders if she believes Sif—but she can see the way Sif is speaking now, can see the look on her face, and yes, this is the truth.

There’s much more story there, and so Jane asks.

The most surprising part, Jane thinks, is that Sif tells her.

 ~~

Sif feels a stirring in her bones, a fluttering throughout her body, a soft want in her chest.

It isn’t soft at all, but she characterizes it that way, trying to temper it carefully.

For months, Jane is her primary connection to the world, her only real thought, her complete focus.

This happens sometimes, she’s heard, with body guards and their charges, and that is all that she and Jane are.

It was silly of her think even think otherwise.

It's been too long since she'd last heard from Thor, Sif realizes.

Sif should be in Asgard now, but instead she’s on this foolish planet lusting over her own wife, who is the love of one of her closest friends.

 She is a fool.

There’s a mark on her palm denoting her marriage, and as time passes on, Sif spends far more time looking at it, like it’s supposed to mean something, like it will provide some sort of clarity.

For now, it does not.

~~

Sif is acting strangely, but Sif is almost always strange.

Jane doesn’t actually know her that well, even as she fights to do so, mostly out of boredom and curiosity—there are a million stories Sif can tell her that Thor hasn’t even heard or thought to tell her, and there’s nothing quite like that.

Jane is starved for company, and it’s messing with her head, because these days, she fights to think about Thor—sweet, kind, beautiful, funny Thor.

She’s lost in this perpetual mess, in this lonely space, and thus she clings to Sif more than she should, she knows that.

She wakes up from a nightmare with Sif’s hands patting her hair, and Jane pulls her towards herself tightly, searching for comfort.

Sif hesitates, stiffening and pulling away gently, but Jane gives Sif a gentle squeeze, a gentle _please_ , and the other woman acquiesces, holding her kindly.

Jane is almost surprised by how good it feels, and how comforting it actually is.

It’s nice, she thinks, to not be alone.

And this tightness in her chest is a product of that, she thinks, related entirely to the drastic, horrifying circumstances of her daily life.

~~

Jane smiles when Sif smiles.

There’s just something stunning about it, like it’s magic or something, and Jane most certainly doesn’t believe in magic.

Magic is simply science someone hasn’t figured out yet—and yet when Jane faces Sif, and tries to figure her out, she feels unsettled, and that is a path she does not wish to take.

She does not wish to meander down it, and question anything.

There are things, she thinks, that she wishes to deny, to ignore, to avoid.

Calling it magic, making it seem unreal, and unnatural, helps to mitigate the effects.

It’s so hard to draw smiles out from Sif, even harder than it is to get her to answer questions or participate in friendly conversation(which she does now, Jane thinks proudly, even as she's starting to regret it).

~~

It’s over.

Jane is safe, and Sif can pull back, and allow Thor to return and slide back into his love’s life. Loki had, as he often did, aligned himself poorly, and thus almost caused the extermination of at least a planet or two, almost entirely accidentally.

And now, Thor has returned, and Sif can slip out from her recent place at Jane’s side.

This is how it is meant to be, and Sif looks forward to the peace of mind she’ll have.

She’ll have to be in reasonable proximity, but Sif can do that without having a single conversation with Jane, or holding her when she has a nightmare, or letting the other woman reach into her chest and pull out her heart. Okay, she thinks, that's a little too melodramatic for her tastes. She'll move on, and act perfectly normal.

Yes, Sif can do that.

~~

Before, when they were alone, time seemed to pass by at an agonizingly slow pace.

That pace had eventually almost felt leisurely, and there were times when Jane almost forgot, for a while, that she was running for her life.

There were times when she felt like she could feel every single speck of a second, when life seemed to recognize that she needed time to slow down almost painfully.

In retrospect, she understands why, and a part of her hates it.

Four months till her divorce.

Everything goes back to normal.

~~

"You refuse to look at her," Thor says, and Sif stares out of the window she's standing near.

She doesn't want to have this conversation.

"I see no reason to," Sif says.

Thor gives her the opportunity to keep talking, but she most certainly does not.

She knows his tricks, and knows that he'll use silence to try to draw the truth right out of her.

"But you you fail," Thor says now. "I've seen your face."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sif deflects.

"You love her," Thor says, sounding surprised by the words coming out of his mouth.

"I do not," Sif says firmly. She turns away from the window to meet Thor's eyes. "Truly."

Thor looks disappointed then. Disappointed in _her_ , and that had never been her intention.

"It is not mutual," Sif swears, and since she believes that, maybe he does too.

Thor nods. "If it were," Thor hesitates. "I would give you my blessing." He is too kind, and she would never ask that of him, though he's given it to her anyway.

"But it isn't," Sif repeats firmly, though the truth is that she doesn't exactly have much choice in the matter.

Thor pulls her towards himself into a comfortable hug, and Sif lets herself relax.

Thor is still one of her oldest friends, even if she's done the unthinkable.

~~

Two months till her magical annulment, and she’s broken up with Thor. He returns home heartbroken, and Jane wonders what she’s done, if she’s made a mistake, if she’s simply going through some sort of post-traumatic experience.

This doesn’t seem right, and Jane wants to reach out, to ask someone what they think. Darcy knows her too well to give her an answer she wants instead of the truth, and most of the people in her life don’t know about quasi-gods in her personal life.

Jane is a keeper of secrets, even as the rest of the world thinks it knows more than it ever has before.

There’s still more, she wants to scream, but she can’t.

Some secrets are best kept that way, hidden in between the lines and in the shades of darkness.

~~

Nothing has happened, but it’s overwhelming, and Sif cannot bear it as it is. This is not what she’d wanted, and it’s not what she _wants_.

Sif counts down the days to the end of this, till she can go home, and never hear the name Jane Foster again.

(Never breathe it to herself, never hear it in her dreams. Even now that seems impossible.)

Jane hugs her goodbye, and something clenches tightly in her chest.

"Are you ready for the ceremony?" Jane asks. 

"Yes," Sif says curtly, and Jane stiffens at her tone. 

Sif’s face is stony and unreadable.

Sif takes Jane’s hand, and closes her eyes.

“Our spirals will swirl,” Sif explains, “Because we are not in love with one another. They swirl as if into our skin, fading into nothingness.”

“Because we’re not in love with each other?” Jane asks, a little breathlessly. “I don’t remember that part.”

“I did not tell you, because it didn’t seem like a relevant piece of information for our purposes,” Sif explains. “It will pass quickly.”

Sif continues the ceremony, and something in Jane is tight and fretful.

When the spirals don’t swirl out of existence, and instead glow brightly until suddenly they stop, and they look exactly the same as they have for the last year, Jane isn't sure what's going on.

“It is a very old ritual,” Sif tells her, looking a bit befuddled. “Few on Asgard actually practice it. I am—“ Sif frowns. “I am unsure what to do now.”

“You said that if we didn’t have love for each other, that the spiral would disappear,” Jane says gently. “Maybe that’s the problem.”

There’s hope in her eyes despite herself.

“Do you—“ Jane starts to ask, then pauses, breathing in deeply. “Because I do, maybe, a little, at least.”

“I do,” Sif says simply, and Jane looks down at their hands, still clasped, and Sif’s gaze feels like it's burning through Jane’s face.

“Okay,” Jane says breathlessly, looking back up into Sif’s eyes, less uncertain than before, but still a bit wobbly. “Then let’s go from there.”

“I’m not sure—“ Sif starts to say, but Jane drops her hand and reaches both hands out to grasp the sides of Sif’s face.

She kisses Sif then, and Sif's head swims.

She finally understands the appeal of the beautiful Midgardian woman whose lips are pressed against hers, and whose hands are buried in her hair.

The guilt rises up in her chest, but so does the love.

For a moment, she lets herself have hope for the future. 

This, she thinks, is love.


End file.
